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Combat Vehicles In East Ukraine Fly Russian Flag

Combat Vehicles In East Ukraine Fly Russian Flag

A column of combat vehicles with a Russian flag on the front one makes its way to the town of Kramatorsk on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. An Associated Press reporter said he saw a column of combat vehicles in an eastern Ukrainian city, occupied by pro-Russian insurgents and flying Russian flags. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

Combat Vehicles In East Ukraine Fly Russian Flag

A masked gunman guards combat vehicles with Russian, Donetsk Republic and Ukrainian paratroopers, flags and gunmen on top, parked in downtown of Slovyansk on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. The troops on those vehicles wore green camouflage uniforms, had automatic weapons and grenade launchers and at least one had the St. George ribbon attached to his uniform, which has become a symbol of the pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo/ Sergei Grits)

Combat Vehicles In East Ukraine Fly Russian Flag

Combat vehicles with gunmen on top are parked in downtown of Slovyansk on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. The troops on those vehicles wore green camouflage uniforms, had automatic weapons and grenade launchers and at least one had the St. George ribbon attached to his uniform, which has become a symbol of the pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo/ Sergei Grits)

One of men aboard the vehicles said they were Ukrainian soldiers who had defected to the pro-Russian side. If that’s true, it raises the specter of an uprising by defected Ukrainian forces in eastern regions of the country. But a senior lawmaker denied any defections had taken place, instead insisting the men on the vehicles were Ukrainian soldiers conducting a false-flag operation to move about freely.

The six vehicles with troops in camouflage sitting atop entered the city of Slovyansk, a hotbed of unrest against Ukraine’s acting government. Insurgents in Slovyansk have seized the local police headquarters and administration building, demanding broader autonomy for their eastern Ukraine region and closer ties with Russia.

Eastern Ukraine was the support base for Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February after months of protests in the capital, Kiev, which were ignited by his decision to back away from closer relations with the European Union and turn toward Russia. Opponents of the government that replaced him alleged the new authorities will repress eastern Ukraine’s large Russian-speaking population.

Reflecting the West’s concern, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Russian President Vladimir Putin late Tuesday to discuss the situation in Ukraine and preparations for diplomatic talks in Geneva on Thursday.

The Kremlin said Putin told Merkel that “the sharp escalation of the conflict places the country in effect on the verge of a civil war.” Merkel’s office said she and Putin had “different assessments” of the events in Ukraine.

The vehicles stopped near a government building in Slovyansk and flew Russian flags while residents chanted “Good job! Good job!”

One of the men who came in the vehicles, who identified himself only as Andrei, said the unit was part of Ukraine’s 25th Brigade of Airborne Forces and that they have switched to the side of the pro-Russian forces.

“Our bosses made the decision and we obeyed,” he said.

The man’s statement couldn’t be independently confirmed and the Defense Ministry had no comment on the events. At the same time, Serhiy Sobolev, the head of a parliamentary faction, which is part of the governing coalition, asserted that the men who drove the armored vehicles into Slovyansk under Russian flags were in fact Ukrainian soldiers conducting a false-flag operation.

“These are our military units who used the partisan method of infiltration into the facilities that today are controlled by Russian military forces and those separatists who are financed by them,” Sobolev was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

The uniform worn by some of the men sitting on top of the vehicles was different from that of the gunmen on the ground, many of whom had pro-Russian ribbons attached to their shoulders.

Some onlookers were happy with the pro-Russian forces.

“We will never allow the fascist Kiev authorities to come here,” said Andrei Bondar, 32, a Slovyansk resident.

But Tetyana Kustova, 35, a sales clerk, was appalled by the unrest.

“They are pushing us towards Russia,” she said. “They are tearing Ukraine into pieces.”

The vehicles arrived from the nearby city of Kramatorsk, where Ukrainian forces sought to re-establish control of an airport on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, several armored vehicles were surrounded by crowds of civilians in Kramatorsk, who shouted “army with the people,” and then erupted in jubilation, chanting “Well done,” according to footage posted by a local news web site. Moments later, a Russian flag was waved. It was unclear whether these were the same vehicles that later drove into Slovyansk.

The government in Kiev has struggled to rein in the rebels, as some security forces have switched over to the side of the insurgents.

“Russia has got a new export now, apart from oil and gas: Russia is now exporting terrorism to Ukraine,” Yatsenyuk told a Cabinet meeting. “Russia must withdraw its sabotage groups, condemn terrorists and liberate all administrative buildings.”

“We have now realized that our Russian neighbors decided to build the Berlin Wall and want to begin a new Cold War, but before that they are performing acts of ‘hot’ terror,” Yatsenyuk said.

In the regional capital of Donetsk, armed militias seized the mayor’s office, according to another AP reporter on the scene.

Kiev authorities and Western countries say tens of thousands of Russian troops are stationed near the border with Ukraine and fear that unrest in the east will be used by Moscow as a pretext for a military incursion.

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Associated Press writer Peter Leonard in Donetsk, and Maria Danilova and Natalya Vasilyeva in Kiev, contributed to this report.